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WILKES-BARRE - Prosecutors want to know who Thomas W. Letteer Jr. was communicating with and track where he was around the time little Kevin Miller was fatally run down last month.

As investigators continue to build their case in the fatal hit-and-run of the 5-year-old, the Luzerne County District Attorney's Office on Monday obtained a search warrant for the cellphone records of Letteer, identified by prosecutors as a "person of interest" in Miller's death.

The records will reveal who Letteer, 22, of Plains Township, was in contact with and could pinpoint his location at the time of the accident - information that could prove crucial to the case, Luzerne County District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis said Monday after getting the warrants approved by Luzerne County President Judge Thomas Burke.

Investigators also filed a search warrant for cellphone records of Letteer's girlfriend, identified in court documents as Abigail Tarver of Pittston Township.

A previous search warrant filed Friday said Letteer told investigators during an initial interview that he was not in Wilkes-Barre that night and that he traveled to his girlfriend's house immediately after a house party in West Wyoming. Police say Letteer, after being contacted again by city detectives, arrived at police headquarters Friday with defense attorney Basil Russin. They said he is now "cooperating," but didn't elaborate.

"I was at the Wilkes-Barre police station with him. That's all I'm going to say," Russin said when contacted Monday.

Asked if he was still representing Letteer, Russin responded, "Maybe there's nothing to represent him on."

The move to examine Letteer's cellphone records came on a day state and Wilkes-Barre police returned to the scene of the accident to perform follow-up crash reconstruction work.

Miller, a kindergarten student from Dallas, was killed at North and North Franklin streets in Wilkes-Barre while leaving a Christmas party with his father, mother, two brothers and another couple. The boy was holding his father's hand as they crossed the street around 10:50 p.m. Dec. 21, court documents said. A speeding car struck him as he stepped onto the curb, his family said.

On Friday, police seized a red Pontiac Grand Am owned by Letteer's father from outside the family's 9 Mack St. home. The vehicle, which had front passenger side damage and what appeared to be a newly installed passenger side headlight, matches the description of the car shown in surveillance photos released by police after the accident.

No charges have been filed in the case. Authorities continue to conduct tests on the vehicle.

"It's being processed right now and we won't have information on that for at least a few days," Salavantis said.

The search warrant affidavit to seize the car says that shortly after the crash, a boozed-up Letteer drove to his girlfriend's home in Pittston Township and confided in her that he "hit someone and killed them." Two days later, Tarver revealed the secret to a friend during a ride home from a Monroe County bus station, but begged her to remain silent, police said. The friend, identified in court papers only as Witness No. 2, recently came forward to police to divulge that Tarver identified Letteer as the fatal hit-and-run driver, police said.

Prosecutors have not ruled out charges again Tarver, but said they hope she, like anyone with information, would provide honest and accurate details to police. Efforts to reach Letteer and Tarver have been unsuccessful.

Prosecutors and police continue to work vigorously on the case to bring some closure to the family, Salavantis said.

"All departments involved in the this have put a lot of time and energy into it. We're working around the clock to make sure this investigation is conducted appropriately and so that the public and the family will see a positive outcome in the near future," Salavantis said.

bkalinowski@citizensvoice.com

570-821-2055, @cvbobkal

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